The Cornered
by Monstrous
Summary: A story of how Tom Riddle, the well loved boy in Hogwart, become Lord Voldemort, the hated dark wizard.
1. Clever Riddle

**The Cornered**

Chapter One

"May I sit here?"

The handsome dark-haired boy looked up from his book, glancing unhappily at the girl who had interrupted him in his reading. That's the thing he hated most in the world; being interrupted while he was gaining knowledge.

"The other seats are all occupied…"she continued awkwardly, shifting her weight from one foot to another under his scrutinizing gaze. She was dressed in the school robe, an uncommon thing in the night. A pile of books were under one hand, a candle stand in another

'Sure," he finally replied, ducking back into his book. She seemed relieved that an answer, no matter how curt it was, had finally come out of Tom Riddle's mouth. Sitting down facing him, she sat the candle stand down and started writing, dark hair with a tinge of green falling smoothly across her face.

The book Tom was reading was interesting, but so was the green-eyed girl sitting directly in front. She didn't flirt with him, even though she was the typed he'd like: tall and slender, not exactly pretty but smooth, with straight shoulder length hair that defied the current fashion. That's good, he thought dryly, watching her furiously scribbling away at a piece of parchment, at least I won't have somebody bugging me to spend the night alone with them.

The girl looked up for a moment, saw his gaze, blushed quickly and turned back to her work again. It was quite amusing actually, and he felt he could be mean tonight. Just to tease her a bit.

Leaning across the table, he glanced at the scroll of parchment. _State clearly the geographical features of Ghosu, the second satellite of Pluto. _

"You are taking astronomy?" he asked. Without looking at him, she gave a short and sweet answer, "Yes."

"Need some help?" he smirked, silently measuring the length. She took a much longer time to decide, and the blush creeps up her face again.

"Yes…if you don't mind teaching such a dimwit like me," she replied.

Chuckling, he moved to her side of the bench and started giving her a detailed lecture of the geographical features of the satellite.

"…the rare mineral Uyio found in earth is in an ambundance there. People are trying to sent spaceships there to collect those and come back…"

"For what? Making money?" she asked, her face hardening.

"Exactly," a few tense moment were shared as both toyed about the greed of men, but eventually they move on. Interesting small details that would surely push her grades up were included, things that she can't picture were drawn out for her…time passed merrily, and her homework was finished.

"What's your name?" Tom asked as he checked the work for any error.

"Terene, Terene Ikuo Horriu," she answer, getting over the blushing part.

"That's an interesting name…here, the Irrika Mountain is spelled with double 'r', and it has storage of water, not wafer,"

Smiling embarrassingly, she pulled the parchment to her and corrected the errors.

"You are Tom Riddle, aren't you?"

"Oh, am I that famous?" he said sarcastically, a hint of teasing in the dark eyes. "Which House are you from?"

"Ravenclaw…fancy me, such a dimwit, being sorted into Ravenclaw?" she laughed ironically, mocking at herself.

"You aren't stupid…just a bit slow. Look at your homework now. I've given you the information slowly and clearly, and you are able to write it out." He offered the comfort that she'll need. "And what's more, neither am I a pureblood, but here I am in Slytherein."

A dark shadow passed through her face as he mentioned his House. From the earlier conversation, Tom had thought that she forgot about his House…For the rest of the editing, they were very quiet, speaking only when necessary. The parchment was passed one last time, and the work was done.

He focused back to the book, _Defense Against Dark Magic—understand them first. _He had bought it from some unknown bookstore in the darker streets of the wizardry world. It had attracted him like a magnet ever since he set eyes on it. Grotesque drawings were drawn, of wizards and witches and muggles suffering. Another head sprouting out, green puss oozing out of the ghastly opened wound with the owner of the hand howling in pain. A page was flipped, and he was there, at the Unforgivable Curse.

"Crucio..." he muttered quietly, his wand aiming aimlessly. By a stroke of fate, the curse hit him. Yelping, he jerked the wand up to take the curse off. What happened? He, at the mere age of fourteen, is able to do the unforgivable curse?

That was the least of his problems now. His yelps had attracted the attention of the other students. Hastily, he shut the book, collected his quills and parchment, and left in a hurry, not noticing (as he usually would) the pair of green eyes following him out.


	2. Bullied Riddle

_Dark times, soon be come_

_June ended, a boy born_

_The Slytherien Heir, rising to power_

_Growing day by day_

_Darkness loomed_

oOo

Chapter Two

Eleven years old Tom stood on the Platform between 9 and 10. A huge trolley was beside him, with luggage bearing a strange crest. A magnificent eagle owl was in its cage, sharp and alert.

"If what _he_ had said was right, it should be here..." the boy muttered, leaning casually against the pillar.

To those Londoners, if they had been watching, they would thought they were hallucinating to saw a boy disappearing through the solid brick pillar. To the wizards and witches on the other side of the wall, however, it was just another new member adding to the students on board the Hogwarts Express.

The dark hair boy strolled leisurely through the carriages, pushing the trolley in front of him. He came to stop by a carriage, smiled, and unload his luggage. It was heavier than he had expected. A useless grip, and his toes were howling with pain. Gritting his teeth, he tried again. The weight at the other end suddenly decreased. Looking up, surprised, he saw a boy older than him helping.

"I don't need your help," Tom snapped hoisting up the luggage from below and climbing the steps. The other did seem taken aback, but managed to keep his smile on.

"Nevertheless, I'm helping and that's what I'll do," he grinned. Tom mentally rolled his eyes. They came to stop at an empty apartment and the involuntarily helper slipped silently away. Tom didn't care. All he wanted was to be left alone.

Instead of flopping down on the seat as one would usually do, he pulled the door shut and the curtains closed. Looking down at his muggle-clothing, he gave a snarl and ripped them off, getting his wizard robes on instead. Knocks were heard at the door jut when he pulled on the cape. Irritably, he unlocked the door and slid it opened.

A boy with freakishly white-blonde hair was standing there, leaning casually against the wall. He had an air of carelessness about him, as if nothing in the world matters to him.

"Took you long enough to open the door, didn't you?" he sniggered, glancing at the empty seats. "You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" he drawled on, more of a threat then a plea. Turning his body sideway to let the new boy in, Tom was elbowed in the stomach.

"Show some respect to those higher than you, Mudblood," the new boy spat. He oushed Tom down while he was trying to stand up. With cruel strength, he twisted the latter's arm behind him and hold him like that, his face flat on the floor.

"Filthly Mudblood…"

As suddenly as he had entered, he had left. Slowly, Tom got up from his crammed position on the floor, his dark eyes turning….

_Red_.

oOo

A punch landed at his stomach. He jolted out of dreamland, got tangled in the bed curtains and tripped. Laughter was heard. Along with snickers.

"So here goes the boy who thought he's so high and almighty," a cold voice rang out. Without turning, Tom knew who it was. _Lucious Malfoy. _

Blows after blows landed. Almost the whole House was against him, hitting him everywhere. All these times, he kept his head low, well away from harm, silently building a mental barrier around himself, a barrier that if seen physically, was the strongest that none could penetrate.

"Here…" a soft voice whispered. Wet cloth was wiping away the stain on his face. Tiredly, he opened his eyes. The boy who had helped him on the train was there, supporting him into a half-seated position.

"They throw you out of the Common Room when you fainted. I saw. I'm on night sentry duty today," he explained, now moving on to the wounds. "You want to get up to Madame Pomphrey?"

"No!" came the suddenly agitated reply. "I'm alright…I'm fine! It's just…"

"Calm down!" the boy commanded sharply. "Now we have to get you somewhere to spend the night…your House people won't welcome you, neither would other House people…"

"which House are you in? And why are you so keen on helping me?" Tom asked, closing his eyes, too tired to keep them open.

"Hufflepuff…and I help, because I need to help. I can't just let you being bullied like that," the reply came, shocking Tom into silence.


End file.
